Method for interconnecting malleable tubing and fittings therefor



IN VEN TORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W. W. HINZ ETAL METHOD FOR INTERCONNECTING MALLEABLE TUBING AND FITTINGS THEREFOR m mun bse zm m nG U w Q OE wmmm .Nhwnh .w QM mmwm M Q bw @N w wo m. 1, RN

Sept. 10, 1963 Filed Nov. 19, 1956 3,103,068 METHOD FOR INTERCONNECTHNG MALLEABLE TUBING AND FITTINGS TI IEIEFGR Walter W. Hinz, Pat Stansbury, Wayne M. Parhison, and Daniel W. Bontwell, Spokane, Wash, assignors to Miller and Poston hlanufacturing Company, Spokane, Wash, a corporation of Washington Filed Nov. 19, 1956, Ser. No. 622,998 1 Claim. (C1. 29-523) The present invention resides in a method for interconnecting malleable tubing and fittings therefor by successive swaging steps and employing the action of one step to secure each tube against movement as a subsequent step is performed.

Heretofore it has been customary to apply fittings to tubing by one of several methods such as: by welding the fittings thereto; by impact swaging the tube to the fitting by means of a manually operated hammer; by pressing the fitting into or on the pipe under great pressure; by roll forming the tube to the fitting; and various combinations of the aforementioned methods. The time consumed in practicing the aforementioned methods and in some cases the expense of so doing, in addition to the machinery required, renders these methods undesirable.

The present invention seeks to overcome these several undesirable features and provides a method for interconnecting malleable tubing and fittings therefor with a minimum expenditure of time and money and also provides a method which contemplates the use of a relatively simple and inexpensive machine for accomplishing the desired objects.

Accompanying this specification are exemplifying drawings which disclose one physical embodiment of an apparatus adaptable to the practice of the method disclosed herein. It will be understood however that other devices and apparatus may be employed to practice the method disclosed herein and to result in the same function. It is therefore neither the desire nor intention of the inventors to limit the invention to be practiced only by the apparatus disclosed in the drawings, but it is our desire to secure to ourselves the claim, as appended hereto and forming a part hereof, limited only by the pertinent prior art.

In the accompanying drawings,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the improved apparatus for interconnecting malleable tubing and fittings;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the same;

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation at the leftward or head end of the apparatus as seen in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a longitudinal horizontal cross section substantially at line i -4 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary horizontal cross section of the head portion showing the actuated position of the driving member; and,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary vertical cross section of fittings secured to the ends of contiguous tubes, the fitting elements being interconnected.

Referring now in greater detail to the drawings, we have indicated the apparatus for interconnecting malleable tubing and fittings therefor in its entirety by the numeral 10. The apparatus includes a frame 11 having a longitudinally extending base member 12 which, as clearly seen in FIGURE 3, is made from a length of channel metal and has a plurality of laterally extending webs 13 secured therein to form a rigid inflexible base member 12.

At the rearward or rightward end of the apparatus as seen in FIGURE 1, we provide a rear stationary member 14 which is welded or otherwise secured to the base member 11 and extends in a vertical plane disposed at right angles to the longitudinal dimension of the base member 12.

A front stationary member 15 is also secured to the 3,W3,0fi8 Patented Sept. 10, 1963 ice base member 12 spaced rearwardly from the extreme front end thereof, and the upper ends of the front and rear stationary members 15 and 14 are secured to each other by means of a tie-rod 16 which is threadedly engaged in the front member 15 and extends through an aperture in the rear member 14 where it is provided with a cooperating nut 17 and forms a rigid frame 11.

As seen in FIGURE 4 of the drawing the front stationary member 15 is provided with a plurality of openings 18 and 19-19. These openings constitute journals through which members are slidingly carried for rectilinear movement.

It will also be noted that the front stationary member 15 on its front face 151; carries a swaging head 20 secured by bolts 21 extending through bolt holes 22 formed through the front stationary member 15, and said bolts 21 thread into internally threaded sockets 23 formed in the swaging head 20. At its front or outer end the head 20 is provided with an annular flange 24 which is substantially the same size and circumference as the internal diameter of the tube T with which it is to cooperate to secure the fitting thereto. Therefore the tube fits over the flange 24 in close tolerance as shown.

Extending rearwardly from the annular flange 2 the head is provided with a reduced cylindrical extension 25 in which the internally threaded sockets 23 are formed. At the juncture of the annular flange 24 and the reduced cylindrical extension 25 the head is provided with radial ways 26 hereshown to be four ways disposed degrees from each other but which obviously may be more or less as found desirable. These ways 26 contain pressure members 27 which have cross heads constituting swaging dies 28 at their outer ends. It is thus seen that the pressure members and swaging dies are disposed for movement radially of the head with the inner end faces 28a of each pressure member disposed to contact one cam face 29 of the driving member 30. It is to be noticed that the swaging dies 28 of the pressure members 27' have relieved portions 31 adjacent to the swaging portions. Disposed in the relieved portions 31 we provide a resilient 0 ring 32 the resiliency of which urges the pressure members inwardly against the cam faces 20 of the driving member 30 to withdraw the swaging dies from the tube T after the swaging movement is completed and the driving member is withdrawn. Obviously, a coiled spring or other yieldable means may be employed to maintain the pressure members in their inward positions if desired.

It will be noted that the driving member cam faces 29 are somewhat pyramidal and terminate inwardly in axially parallel surfaces 2912 so that during the initial forward movement of the driving member 36 the inner faces 28a of the pressure members 27 are contacted by the cam faces 29 and thus force the pressure members outwardly Where the swaging dies swage the tube T into the recess R of the fitting F by forming depressions as shown at T2 of FIGURE 6 at spaced intervals about the circumference of the tube T. At the base of the pyramidal cam faces 29 the axially parallel faces 29a pass under the pressure member faces 28a and permit continued forward movement of the driving member 29 without imparting additional outward movement of the pressure member 27.

Simultaneously with the terminal movement of the driving members 30 a stop collar 33- rigidly carried by the driving member 30' contacts the cross head 34 and carries the cross head 34 forwardly therewith. Extending from the front face 34a of the cross head 34 are guide bars 35 which are axially parallel to the axis of the driving member 30 and these guide bars 35 are journal-ed in the journals 19 of the front stationary member 15, extend therethrough and have secured on their forward ends an annular flanging swage 36. It will be noted that the compression springs 37 disposed between that front face 34a 3 of the cross head 34 and the rear face 15b of the front stationary member 15 encircle the guide bars 35 and bias of the cross head rearwardly to yieldably maintain the flanging swage 36 at its rearward position in face to face engagement with the front face 150: of the front stationary member 15.

The flanging swage 36 is seen to have an annular forwardly projecting wall 36a and spaced rearwardly therefrom a radially extending flat wall or shoulder 36b, the walls being interconnected by an are at 36c sutficient to cause forward movement of the flanging swage 36 to effect a radially extending flange G.

It is to be noted that the tube T and its cooperating fitting F are held against axial movement by the swaging dies 28 which have depressed at spaced intervals portions T2 of the tube T into the annular recess R while, the flanging swage 36 performs its step in the complete method. We thus obviate the necessity of providing clamping means for holding the tube T and therefore provide a better and more efficient method which lends itself to practice in a number of various ways including the relatively inexpensive apparatus disclosed herein.

It will be noted that the flanging swage 36 is held to the ends of the guide bars 35 by means of axially extending bolts 38 which pass through the cross head 34 and axially through the guide bars 35 and are threadedly engaged in sockets 39 formed in the flanging swage. Therefore as the cross head 34 is shifted rearwardly by means of springs 37 the flanging swage 36 is also shifted rearwardly away from the flange G formed on the end of the tube.

It Will also be noted that the flanging swage 36 has a close sliding engagement with the reduced cylindrical extension 25 of the head 28 and therefore it is supported in concentric relation thereto against radial displacement.

A central bore '40 extends through the head 20 in alignment with the journal 18 to admit the driving member 30 for the purpose hereinbefore described.

It will be further noted that front stationary member 15 is provided with semi-cylindrical jaws 41 which encircle the tubing T and hold the fittings F during the swaging movement of the several parts. These jaws are pivotally supported at 42 on vertical axes so that they may be swung away to remove and insert fittings during operation of the device.

A power means is supplied in the frame 11 and is here seen to comprise a cylinder 43 resting upon or supported by the rear stationary member 14. The power means 45 has a piston rod 44 disposed in axial alignment with the driving member 30 for the purpose of actuating said member through its rectilinear movements. A conventional manually controlled source of fluid under pressure is provided for actuating the power means 45.

Having thus clearly disclosed and described our invention we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States the following:

A method for use in securing to the end portion of a malleable initially cylindrical tube a fitting having a central bore adapted to receive the tube in close tolerance, said fitting having an internal depression axially spaced from an annular end face thereof, which includes disposing an end of said tube in said bore with its marginal edge portion extending beyond said end face a predeterrnined amount, swaging at least a portion of said tube into said depression; and from within the tube at said swaged portion immovably holding said interconnected tube and fitting while swaging said marginal edge portion into an outwardly flared flange.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

